Why baggy jeans are healthier

The term ‘fashion victim’ is all too apt if you have fallen for the latest skin tight jeans as doctors are reporting patients with ‘tingling’ in their legs and a feeling of disorientation. It’s a condition called meralgia paresthetica, that occurs when constant pressure cuts off the lateral femoral subcutaneous nerve, causing a numb, tingling or burning sensation along the thigh. It’s more usually seen in construction workers or police officers with heavy, low-slung belts, pregnant women or obese people and also can result from a pulled-tight seat belt in a car accident. However, the new cases are self inflicted as skin tight jeans compress the nerve and if you team your jeans with high heels you are increasing the risk of this numbing as the heels tilt the pelvis forward, increasing the pressure on the nerve.Luckily the damage is rarely permanent, but swapping for something less restricting would be a good health – if not fashion – move. Time to get those baggy jeans out of the wardrobe?

Autism risk higher in boys

Statistically, boys are four times more likely to be autistic than girls are – something that has puzzled researchers for a number of years. Now a new report this week in Molecular Psychiatry announces that researchers have found a genetic clue that may help explain why. While nearly 40% of the general population has the most common form of the gene CACNA1G, one variant of it was more prevalent in autistic boys, though why is still not clear. It is responsible for regulating the flow of calcium into and out of cells and this is important as nerve cells in the brain rely on calcium to become activated. An imbalance in calcium can result in these neural connections becoming over stimulated, more excitable, and this can create developmental problems, such as autism and even epilepsy. In the next five to ten years this could lead to a much better understanding of the causes of autism as researchers try to use known autism genes to help develop screening tools or early interventions.

Getting ahead of hay fever

This time of year can be very distressing for hay fever sufferers, and those with sinusitis or allergies. There are plenty of medications available to control the symptoms but there is an old-fashioned naturopathic remedy that is very effective and inexpensive that you might want to try first. It’s using warm salt water to wash out your nasal passages. Done twice a day it has shown positive results in medical studies as it washes away the pollen that clogs your nasal passages and irritates your body into triggering an allergic reaction.It’s long been in use in Ayurvedic medicine and the renowned Mayo Clinic in the states also recommend it’s use. A January 2009 study on 200 patients had them reporting relief of their symptoms from twice daily salt water irrigations and a recent study in China at Nanjing Medical University showed good results on children with allergic rhinitis so they were able to stop or reduce their steroid nasal sprays.

It must be popular as you can now buy a salt pipe (sometimes called a neti pot) on Amazon in the UK and many other health sites. Natural sea salt is the best to use and use 1 teaspoon salt to 1 pint of warm filtered or distilled water.

Adding in some extra support in terms of taking regular exericse and having plenty of omega-3 in your diet. Children who have little exercise have twice the rate of hay fever as their more active friends, and omega-3 from fish oil helps reduce both allergic and inflammatory responses. It can also help to include probiotics in the diet as they have two good effects: they help lower the levels of an antibody that produces allergy symptoms and also levels of a different antibody, IgG, that it’s believed plays a protective role against allergic reactions.

Stomach ulcers glutamine

H. pylori bacteria infect more than half of the world’s population and were recently identified as a Group 1 carcinogen by the World Health Organization. Stomach ulcers are known to result from an infection with this bacteria and it is carried by nearly six percent of people worldwide. Usually the treatment given is antibiotics but we are now more cautious about prescribing these because of side effects, and overuse leading to less effectiveness. A more natural treatment with the amino acid Glutamine has been found and it seems to be protective against both the damage done by H pylori and reducing the risk of gastric cancer. 900,000 new cases of gastric cancer develop each year and it is known to be associated with H pylori infection.Research was conducted by Susan Hagen, PhD, Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School and she is suggesting that increasing glutamine in the diet could protect against gastric damage caused by H. pylori. This can occur over years, as the infection causes persistent gastritis and damage to cells in the digestive tract and this is the ideal environment to develop malignant cells, leading to cancer. The bacteria weakens the stomach’s protective mucous coating and her research team has shown that glutamine protects against cell death from H. pylori-produced ammonia and that the damaging effects of ammonia on gastric cells could be reversed completely by the administration of L-glutamine.

L-Glutamine – the form used in the research – is often taken as a supplement to increase body mass, but Glutamine itself does occur naturally in foods including beef, chicken, fish, eggs, dairy products and some fruits and vegetables. If you are prone to stomach ulcers, then it could prove helpful in avoiding antibiotics and preventing further damage.

Post vasectomy sperm check kit available online

The period of fertility after a vasectomy can vary from just weeks to months as live sperm remain in the reproductive tract after a vasectomy. To avoid pregnancy men are advised to have at least two check ups to determine their fertility, but researchers have found that 35% percent of men don’t return for the first sperm level test and over 70% don’t return for the second follow up.Given this level of reluctance, there seemed a gap in the market for men to have a home test and this is now available online having being approved by the FDA. SpermCheck Vasectomy has been developed to detect SP-10, a protein present at constant levels in each sperm nucleus and was developed at the University of Virginia by John C. Herr, Ph.D., and his colleagues.

If a couple absolutely must avoid pregnancy, then this test won’t substitute for a doctor’s check up as there is still debate about what level constitutes fertility, but if making and keeping doctor’s appointments is a problem, then this might be a substitute.

The test is available from www.contravac.com and costs $39.99.

Common virus may be cause of high blood pressure

High blood pressure can lead to an increased risk for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease with 1 in 20 adults in the UK being affected and as many as 70 percent of adult diabetics. It’s causes can be varied, from genetic predisposition, medical conditions and stress, but now there may be a completely different explanation. Researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center believe that a common viral infection might also be a cause.

The virus in question is cytomegalovirus, part of the herpes family, and it infects between 40 and 80 percent of adults worldwide. It is spread through bodily fluids such as saliva and urine, and can be transmitted from person to person through close bodily contact. Like most other herpes-type viruses, once you’re infected by CMV it will remain dormant in your body for the rest of your life, though you may never show any symptoms. If a woman has CMV it can be passed on to her unborn child and it is estimated that one in every 200 babies will be born with congenital CMV.

Viruses have the ability to turn on human genes and, in this case, the CMV virus is enhancing expression of renin, an enzyme directly involved in causing high blood pressure a whole new approach to treating hypertension, with anti-viral therapies or vaccines becoming part of the prescription.”

This breakthrough came about because for the first time researchers were brought together from a combination of disciplines including allergies, cardiology, infectious diseases and pathology. This collaborative venture meant that insights were shared and led to a statement from author Clyde Crumpacker, MD the co-author of the study and Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School that.. “This new discovery may eventually provide doctors with a whole new approach to treating hypertension, with anti-viral therapies or vaccines becoming part of the prescription.”

The ‘wrong’ kind of sunlight

Frankly after the wind and rain I was battered with at the weekend any kind of sunshine would be welcome, but just like there is the ‘wrong’ kind of snow, there can also apparently be the ‘wrong’ kind of sun.The problem is if you are getting your sun through a window, as this way your vitamin D levels can be reduced. Let the sun shine – but not through your window if you want to get the full benefit. There are two basic forms of ultraviolet radiation from the sun: UVA, and UVB and they work differently when your body is exposed to them.

UVB is the ‘good’ guy as it forms the precursor to vitamin D in the skin, but sadly it is also the ‘bad’ guy that when overexposed leads to sunburn and skin damage but we are generally exposed to it mostly in the summer time. UVA is not so much a ‘bad guy’ as an out and out villain, giving your skin the appearance of an alligator handbag and causing skin cancer and is present throughout the year.

This is the problem; even when the sky seems overcast, UVA rays are beaming down on you, and they can pass through glass. Although UVB radiation is filtered out as it passes through the window, UVB mostly goes right through it.

We know there are many health benefits associated with sensible exposure to sunlight, but it is the vitamin D we get from exposure to UVB that we need. If you are basking in the sun in your conservatory or even sitting by a window when the sky is cloudy you are in danger of destroying vitamin D as you are exposed to UVA radiation.

This is particularly important in the winter when we seek out light and sun to cheer us up, and we are getting very little vitamin D from UVB rays. Maximise your intake of vitamin D by avoiding sitting directly by a window in the winter and getting out at every opportunity for short, safe, exposure to the sun. Why should we care about this? Vitamin D is formed from exposure to UVB rays, whereas UVA radiation actually destroys vitamin D.

What caused Swine flu?

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been saying for years that ‘a new pandemic is inevitable’and experts from the European Commission and the FAO have cautioned that one reason for this could be that the rapid move from small holdings to industrial pig production is in fact increasing the risk of development and transmission of disease epidemics. The current outbreak started on a large pig factory farm run by the US Smithfield Corporation, the largest pig producer in the world. Conditions for factory farmed animals, whether pigs, chickens or anything else are rarely ideal and usually involve large amounts of drugs such as antibiotics and growth promoters.

Although the company denies any connection between their pigs and the flu the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warn that scientists still do not know the extent that infectious compounds produced in factory farms affect human health. Smithfield has already been fined $12.6m and is currently under another federal investigation in the US for toxic environmental damage from pig excrement lakes. Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that is asking concerned consumers to sign a petition asking the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organisation to investigate and develop regulations for these farms to protect global health. If you would like to add your voice to that, then visit www.avaaz.org/en/swine_flu_pandemic

Meditation shows dramatic results for incontinence

It is no laughing matter, but ironically a laugh can be a real embarrassment if you suffer from incontinence. Sneezing and coughing can also cause leakage of urine and it’s something that affects around 5 million people in the UK. It’s not just your bladder that is affected either; regular incontinence can have other effects such as skin infections, sores and rashes. If you are getting up frequently in the night, then your sleep is affected and that can depress your immune system. In more severe cases sufferers feel ‘unclean’ and it affects their self esteem, sometimes leading to depression, and cause them to withdraw from social life and sexual activity.

Causes include infections and tumours, but the most common cause for women is the weakening of the pelvic floor muscles after childbirth, or as they get older.

There are many solutions available from the radical ones of surgery or drugs, but these do carry potential side effects. For example, the generic drug oxybutynin can affect the memory, make swallowing difficult, and been linked to blurred vision, constipation, drowsiness and confusion. The new generation of drugs are anticholinergics, generic name often prescribed is darifenacin and this has been linked to dry mouth, constipation, indigestion, blurred vision, decreased sweating leading to severe heat prostration, and abdominal pain. Natural methods have included commercially sold pelvic floor exercisers and simple home exercise plans to tighten the muscles. A new solution has just come from a Loyola University Health System (LUHS) study in the States which has found that meditation can be just as effective as drugs or surgery.

Meditation is usually associated with spiritual practice, or as a stress reduction technique, but whatever its purpose the effect is to use the brain to control the body. Meditation is known to be able to reduce blood pressure, but now it seems it can also control our bladders. One distressing feature of incontinence is the almost irresistible urge to urinate far more frequently than normal, and meditating helps control this impulse. This seems to be more effective for women than men, but certainly worth experimenting with for both sexes before taking drugs or resorting to surgery.

The study incorporated some cognitive therapy with meditation and visualisation focused on using deep breathing to relax the body. The average age of the study subjects was 62 and all had been diagnosed with ‘urge incontinence’ resulting from an overactive bladder. They practiced meditation by listening to a recording twice a day that took them through visualisation and relaxation exercises. Having done this twice a day for a fortnight, they also logged how many times they accidentally passed urine daily before and after participating in the study.

The researcher’s conclusion was that for the majority a dramatic improvement was seen. A sharp drop in the number of ‘accident’s was seen down from 40 to 12 which is very impressive, particularly when some subjects reported being able to leave home more often as they achieved a 98 percent leak-free day.

I don’t know what meditation they used, but if you want to try my meditation CD I would recommend you use the Blue Sky track and focus on visualising yourself going through a day being dry, comfortable and active. If you want to know more please visit www.catalystonline.co.uk/marketplace

Another simple technique is the ‘elevator exercise’ where you tighten and hold the pelvic muscles as you imagine them pulling upwards as if in an elevator. You ‘pause’ the elevator at each floor and hold and relax the muscles, then continue on up to the next floor. Doing this exercise of contracting, holding and releasing frequently during the day is also a good way of keeping the muscles toned and avoiding future episodes of incontinence.

Mother-daughter breast cancer link

It was reported by the MLA University Health Network on 3 May that a unique mother-daughter study shows that the percentage of water in the breast could be linked to the risk of breast cancer in older women.

Breast density is an inheritable characteristic that is known to be a cancer risk factor and by using magnetic resonance to measure breast density in younger women the Canadian researchers at The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research at Princess Margaret Hospital in Ontario. Higher blood growth hormone concentrations were also linked to higher percent breast water and results showed that each 5cm difference in height in daughters was associated with 3% increase in percent breast water, which suggests a mechanism by which growth might affect the risk of cancer. They believe this could help in developing prevention methods as breast density is a strong risk factor for breast cancer in middle aged and older women as the breast is most susceptible to the effects of carcinogens at early ages. Their findings suggest that by identifying the environmental and genetic factors that influence breast tissue composition in early life they may be able to develop safe and effective methods of prevention.

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